citlmer



(No Model.)

J. W. OULMER.

PLURAL PISTON GAS METER.

No. 398,708. Patented Feb. 26, 1889.

Nrrsn STATES PATENT ()FFICEQ JOHN V. CULMER, OF NEW BRIGHTON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGXOR TO .lOllN ll. LOGAN, OF SAME PLACE. I

PLU RAL-PISTON GAS-METER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 398,708, dated February 26, 1889.

Application d August 29, 1888. Serial No. 284,076. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it play concern.- to say, by utilizing both the bellows and its Be it known that 1, JOHN \V. (J'LLMER, a cit icase for measurement purposes as the bellows zen of the United States, residing at the borexpands and contracts and shallbe provided ough of New Brighton, in the county of Beawith dircceseating valves, and reversing-gear 55 ver and State of Pennsylvania, have invented which shall instantaneously reverse the valves certain new and useful Improvementsin Pluat a tixedpoint; within the range and near the rail-Piston Gas-Meters; and I hereby declare ends of the strokes of the pistons.

the following to be a full, clear, and exact de To this end it consists in certain special scription of the same, reterenmbeing had to combinations and particular features of con- 60 IO the accom 'ianying drawings, wherein struction, all as will hereinafter more fully Figure 1 is a horizontal section of a meter appear. embodying my invention, taken on the line a: I will now proceed to describe my inven- :0,Fig. 2; and Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse tion more specifically, so that others skilled section of the same, taken on the line 1 y, in the art to which it ap]iertains may appl v 65 Fig. 1. the same.

Llkehguresrefertolikeparts\vhereverthev In the drawings, 1 indicates a base, upon occur. which are arranged or formed two ci'mecntrie My invention relates to that class of dr vertical rings, 2 and 3, the outer ring, it for meters in which the measurement is effected attacl'nncnt of the outer shell or meter-case, l, 70 by the r ciprocating act ion of a piston or pisand the inner ring, for attachn'lent of the I tons inelosed in an outer case. The general plural bellows 5 and o. Extending from the form of itch meters heretofore devised has outside of the outer ring, 2, to the inside of consisted of a bellows or a plurality of the the inner ring, 3, are ports or passages 8 same attached gas-tight to pistons or suitable and 0, which terminate in tubular heads or 7 heads and to a base or bases, the space in- Ts 10 and 11, so that one port of each pasclosed within the bellows between its points sage is within the inner ring, 3, and one port oi. greatest expansion and contraction being i of each is without said ring 3 and between it taken as the unit of ineasurmncnt, and in and outerringfl. ThetubularheadsorTs1o such caseswhere two or more btdlmvs and pisand 11 are preferablyarranged vertically and So tons were used the piston-heads and attachparallel, and are each provided with adouble ments were made complementary to each puppet-valve or puppets, l2 and 123, connected other, the action of one piston and bellows in pairs by stems 1-1-14. lhesepuppet-valves operating the valves and controlling the in- 1 and 1 3 n1a vhavc the usual guide-wings, flow and exhaust of the othcror others; or the 1' 1 3*.

bellowshavebeencomplementarv,in thatthcy 1 Between. and preferably supptin-ted by the were attached by means of levers or belltubular heads or Ts 10 and 11 a bracket: cranks to one and the same spindle, which or stand, .15, on which is a rocking arm or lcthey rotated, and which spindle operated the ver, 10, which. moves freely on a spindle, 17, valves of each bellows at fixed relative strokes. journaled in the stand 15, the opposite ends 90 As the motion of the valve-gear in such cases i of said rock-lcver 16 being connected to the has been slow and ctmtinuous, the valves enirespcctivc stems 14- ot the double puppetployed have necessarily been of the general valves by means oi: links 19 19. character of slide-valves having a large con- .15 indicates a gravity or drop lever-loosely tact-surface compared with the size of the journalml at one end on the spindle 17, pro- 9 ports, which. occasionm'l much ['riction, convided at its opposite end with a weight, 20, stantlyincreasing as gummy or wax precipiand having an arcsl1ape or curved slot, 21, at tate from the gas was depositml on the slidi some interimialiate point, the Function. of said ing surfaces of the valtes. l lever being to throw or suddenly rock the The object of the present invention is to rock-lever 16, which controls the valves. T00

construct a plural piston. and bellows meter 22 and indicate the bellows heads or piswhich shall operate by displacement-that is tons, which are connected with the inncrccntral ring, 3, by the flexible bellows 5 and 0, and with each. other by the lazy-tongs mechanism 24. The extremities of said lazy-tongs mechanism 24 are secured to the opposite pistons or heads, 22 and 23, by sliding pivotblocks 25, and said extremities or their sliding pivot-blocks 25 of each side are connected by a bent plate, 26, orequivalent couplings, which may be operated by any suitable meansfor instance, a screw, 27, passing through the piston-headso that by drawing down the bent plates 26 by means of screws 27 the are through which the levers of the lazy-tongs can move, and consequently the strokes of the pistons 22 and 23, are shortened, and can thus be readily adjusted at will to correct any errors of measurement.

At its mid-length, or at the central points or pivots, 3l, which are in line with the valve mechanism, the lazy-tongs 24 are provided with connecting-rods 28, which connect the lazy-tongs with crank-arms 29 on spindle 17, and at said points of connection are crank-pins 30, one of which enters the slot 21 of the pivoted gravity-lever 19, by which means the lever l9,with its weight- 20, is carried past its center point at the extremes of movement of the central points of lazy-tongs 24, and falling by gravity instantaneously throws or re verses the puppet-valves 12 and 13.

In the construction herein shown and described the plural pistons are arranged vertically an d to reciprocate in a horizontal plane, which will relieve the gas from compression by the weight thereof and of the lazy-tongs and the meter from irregularity of action; but to preserve the relations of the case and bellows, as well as to obviate friction, it is The meter, being constructed substantially as hereinbe'fore specified, will operate as follows: The devices being in the position shown in the drawings, the gas enters the meter through supply-pipe 8, and passes inner valve, 12, inflating the plural bellows 5 0 until the piston-heads 22 and 23 have reached the outer extremities of stroke permitted by the lazytongs mechanism, (as it has been adjusted by mechanism 26 27,) at which point the inward movement of the central pivots, 31, of the lazy-tongs, acting on weighted lever 19 by means of rods 28, has carried said lever over its center, whereupon it will suddenly fall by its own gravity, actuating rock-lever 16 so as to close the inner inlet valve, 12, and the outer outlet-valve, 1 3, and open the outer inlet-valve, 12, and also open the inner outlet-valve, 13, or, in other words, will instantaneously reverse the square or direct-seating puppetvalve, whereupon the gas from the supplypipe will enter the case instead of the bellows, and the gas from the interior of the bellows will escape through outlet-passage 9. As soon as the pistons 22 23 have approached each other (or the bellows contracted) to the extent permitted by the adjustment of the lazy-ton mechanism, the extreme outward movement of the pivot-points 31 of the lazy-tongs w1ll (through the medium of rods 28) carry weighted lever 19 back past its center, and it will fall in the reverse direction, causin g the lever 16 to rock back into the position shown in the drawings, again reversing the valve so passages which connect with both the interior and exterior of said ring; neitherdo I broadly'claim the combination, with a bellows and its piston, of lazy-tongs mechanlsm adj ustably connected with said piston, as the same terms the subject-matter of a separate application, Serial No. 284,075, filed of even date herewith; but, 7

Having thus set forth the nature, operation, and advantages of my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a plural-piston gas-meter, the combination, with a shell-ring, a shell or case attached thereto, and a series of bellows and pistons, of a bellows-ring arranged concentrically with the shell-ring and provided with valved passages which connect the interior and exterior of said bellows-ring, said bellows-ring forming a common attachment for the series of bellows, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. In a plural-piston meter, the combination of concentric case-ring and bellows-ring, an inlet-passage which extends through the annular chamber between said rings, said passages terminating in valve-boxes having ports on both sides of the inner ring, and double puppet-valves arranged to control the ports of said inlet and outlet passages, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

3. In a gas-meter, the combination of concentric shell-ring and bellows-ring, valve passages or boxes having ports on both sides of the inner ring, said boxes arranged parallel, double puppet-valves, a rock-lever for I coupling said valves, and a gravity-lever for actuating the rock-lever from the bellows-pistons, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

4. In a gas-meter, the combination, with a ventral base, of a plurality of pistons, a single lazy-tongs mechanism which connects the several pistons, and inlet and outlet valves centrally arranged and actuated by the expansion and contraction of tl'relazy-tong's, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

In a gas-meter, the combination, with, central eoneelitrically-airanged shell-ringandbellows-ring, of plural piston-heads, a lazy-tongs mechanism which conneets the piston-heads, and inlet and outlet valves arranged in the inner or bellows ring and actuated by the lazytongs, substantially as and for the purposes specified 6. In a gas-meter, the combination, with a single case having eentra-llyarranged inlet and outlet valves, of a plurality of bellows, a lazy-tongs mechanism which connects the several pistons or bellows-heads,'and adjustable connections for uniting the ends of the lazytong's mechanism with each of the several heads or pistons, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

In testimonywhereolfl aliix mysig'natnre, in 25 presence of two wit nesses, this 27th day of August, 1998.

.IOIIX \V. CUIAIER.

Witnesses:

W. A. COVENTRY, JOSEPH SwEsEY. 

